He was recognised for his "outstanding contribution" at the awards ceremony held in Sydney on Thursday. His brother, Andrew Greste, received the award on his behalf with a letter from Peter.

He read out the message sent from his brother in Tora prison. It read: "While I am truly honoured to accept this award I do so on behalf of all of those who it really belongs to, all who are part of the struggle, not just for freedom in Egypt but for wherever the press is not truly free."

Greste, an Australian national, has been held in Egyptian prison for the past 341 days along with two Al Jazeera colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.

Fahmy and Greste were sentenced to seven years in prison, while Mohamed received an additional three years for having a spent bullet in his possession, which he had picked up at a protest.

They are falsely accused of having ties to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera has dismissed the allegations and has repeatedly called for the release of its staff.